It's no secret that I recently blogged about an art installation where an artist let the public loose on a white room with batches
of sticky dots, and filmed the results in stop-motion photography. The results were great. I wanted to try with my daughters to see what
happened if they were given the same opportunity. Obviously I wasn’t going to let them loose on
a room, nor was I going to paint a piano or even a dining table and let them
at it... instead I went for something much more modest, affordable, and which
required just one sheet of sticky dots. I gave them each a white noodle box. Doesn't sound very exciting I know, but by giving them a 3 dimensional object rather than a piece of paper they automatically had more surfaces to play with; more options. As always I was fascinated to see what each child did.
The eldest, who is four and half was quite methodical. One side was all red. Another all blue. Then the other two sides were a mixture of green and yellow. On the lid she placed one of each coloured dot. She told me that inside her box she was going to look for four treasures; one of each colour. Fabulous.
The youngest daughter, who is 3, simply stuck them on, here there and everywhere, but with great speed and efficiency. She turned the box, made sure that no side was left blank, she even asked whether it was a good idea to put some inside the box, on the inner surfaces, and then decided herself not to as whatever treasure she put int her might pull them off. Impressive.
Imagination. Opportunity. Wonderful things. My experiment and their creations were no art gallery masterpieces, but we had fun, them and I both, and that’s what family craft is all about. So next time you're wondering whether to craft with your kids, at a party, when guests are over, it's raining, or just because; do it. Grab a sheet of coloured sticky dots; give them each a noodle box, or something similar and let them go. It might seem lame to you, but you’ll be surprised, sticky dots have magical powers when they get to go where children want them to!
